What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger
by maddie-babz1993
Summary: Supernatural/Princess Diaries fusion. Cas Thermopolis is just a regular almost 17 year old kid. Until his mysterious grandpa from Europe decides to pay him a visit and Cas's entire world is turned upside-down when he discovers he's a Prince. SLASH swears
1. Part I

**BE WARNED. THIS A/N IS VERY LONG. BUT IT MUST BE READ. OR ELSE YOU WILL BE CONFUSED, AND I WILL BE ACUSED OF PLAGIRISM.**

**Hi. So. The other day, I was browsing some fluffy, adorable Dean/Cas fics. And I found this one on livejournel, by an author called liadan14. They are amazing. Look them up on LJ, and read everything they've ever written. It's gold. Anyway, she has this Supernatural/Princess Diaries AU/fusion fic. And I absolutely fell in love with it. I read it at least 8 times. And I wanted more. So, i searched the internets for similar crossover/fusions. And I was unsucsessful in finding any. So, I wrote my own. It borrows quite a fair bit from liadan14's original (which is called _Tell Yourself It's Easy (And It's True)_), becasue I loved their casting, and a number of her scenes worked for me, I just changed them up a little bit. Anyway, liadan14's fic kinda had it's own storyline. I stuck pretty close to the plot of the actual movie. Except the part where Mia goes to the beach with the jocks and cheerleaders. Cuz Cas totally wouldn't do that. So... I made up something else. But I won't tell you know and ruin the suprise ;)**

**So, long story short, THIS is my Supernatural/Princess Diaries fusion fic, with Cas playing the role of Mia, Dean as Michael (only not as boring and non-existant), Sam as Lily (only a guy), and Jess as Jerimaeih (only a chick... I messed around with genders a lot, lol). It's over 12,000 words, I finished it in two days, and it's my absolute favorite thing I've written to date.**

**WARNINGS**

**ALSO. Some general warnings: There is a LOT of swearing. Come on now guys. This is the cast of Supernatural. They're gonna put sailors to shame, even is this is a Disney fusion. And there is most definately boy kissing. LOTS AND LOTS of it. So... if SLASH is NOT your thing, leave now. This is a SLASH FIC. It's also my first one. I'm rather proud of it, seeing as how I'm so bad at writting gay p0rn. WHich is reference, by the way. In the second chapter. And it could be considered underaged (the characters are 17 & 18) depending where you live. I live in Canada. This is acceptable there. I apologise in advance if I offend anyone. ALSO. Genovia... not a real place. And I have no idea if the countries in the EU have no money. I thought that bit was funny. I used it. I'm not making any actual claims here. If anyone has any complaints, such as if you think the rating should be higher, or if I left something out in the Warning, please PM or review. I'll attend to it immediatly.**

**P.S. Here's a link to the fic by liadan14's fic. I HIGHLY recomend you read it. It's amazing... (and you know the drill, lose the spaces...)**

**http:/ / liadan14. livejournel .com /54593. html**

**DISCLAIMER: Yeesh, this one's gonna be a doozy... I DO NOT own Supernatural, or the Princess Diaries. The rights and ownership of those two mediums belong to Eric Kripke/The CW Network and Walt Disney Inc. respectively. I also do not own the idea for this fusion fic, that honor rests with the amazingly talented liadan14, who you should all go look up on LJ. I am not, have not, and will not profit in any way, shape or form from this fanfiction. It's just a creative outlet for my sad, lonely mind. ME NO OWN. YOU NO SUE. OR DELETE MY STORY, PLZ AND THX**

* * *

><p>"CASTIEL! Wake up, darling! You're going to be late!" Anna Thermopolis shouted up the winding stairwells of their renovated firehouse home. Cas groaned, and rolled out of bed. Not bothering with his hair, or a shave, he dressed in his school uniform half blind, then located his glasses in the cat house. Balthazar had a nasty habit of stealing them. Probably because they were shiny. Grabbing his tattered school bag, Cas slid down the fire pole, and obediently took the trash from his mom. Moving outside, he crashed his scooter in Mr. Shurley's trash cans, again.<p>

"Sorry Mister Shurley." Cas said, tossing the bag in one of their brightly painted bins, "Have a nice day." He added.

"Not likely." Chuck muses, banging trash lids together for no apparent reason. He does that at least 5 times a week, so Cas ignores him in favor of beginning the long, mostly uphill, trek to school. He meets his best friend and fellow junior Sam Winchester about halfway. Sam wordlessly falling in sync with him, as is normal for them. The exchange a few words, but mostly scooter in silence.

Upon their arrival at their esteemed private school, Grove High, the usual is occurring before classes. Lilith, Meg and Ruby are creating ridiculous impromptu cheers on the top of the steps, super-douche captain of the football team Alistair is making an ass of himself. And Jess is waiting for them, sitting by the bike racks. Sam's whole face lights up. He's got it for her bad, but he's way to chicken to say anything. She follows them into the front door.

"Ready for debate today, Cas?" she asks. Castiel groans.

"Fuck you, Jess. I had just forgotten about it." He complained, running his hands through his hair, making it stick up even more.

"Relax Cas, you'll do fine. You always do." Sam says. Cas sighs.

"I know. But they have me going up against Meg Masters, so it's just going to be horrifically painful." Cas replies. Jess pats him on the shoulder affectionately. There's really nothing she or Sam can say. There's a pecking order in high school. They just happen to be at the bottom of it.

* * *

><p>It is horrifically painful. Meg is wearing this tight, revealing, rather slinky ensemble. No one really cares about what she's talking about (the pros of private school), because the guys are too busy checking out her tits and the girls are too busy eye-rolling. Sam is snickering next to him, and Cas could care less. His interests lie on the complete opposite side of Meg and her… assets. It's not really a big secret that he's gay, but no one expect Sam and Jess really even know.<p>

Once Meg is done prattling on about the same two points for ten minutes, she takes a bow, flashes _way_ more of herself than Cas could be bothered to see, and takes a seat. Cas goes up, makes his points about why private schools suck (which is easy, because he hates them), and sits down. The jocks sniggered and threw shit around the whole time; the cheerleaders ignored him in favor of giggling at the jocks. His teacher, Mr. Milligan, paid attention and so did Sam. He really could have cared less. Though, judging by the weird frowning-constipated face Mr. Milligan has going on, something is about to come and bite Cas in the ass.

He tries really hard not to think about it.

Which lasts until after school, when he's at his part-time job, teaching people how to rock-climb.

It's never a good thing when his mother turns up at work.

"Castiel, there you are." His mom says, smiling. Cas has to smile back. He loves his mom. She's awesome. She raised him all by herself, and a made a name for herself in the art world at the same time. She's bad ass.

"Hey mom." Cas says with a smile, accepting a kiss on the cheek without complaint.

"Your grandfather called." Anna says mildly. Cas drops his pen in shock. Anna catches herself, "Oh, no! The alive one. Who lives in Genovia? He wants to see you. He's here in San Francisco." She added. Cas sighs.

"Really? The grandfather I've never met, and only know about from horror stories you've told me about him?" Cas asked. His mom sighs.

"I know, baby. I know. But he wants to talk to you about your dad. Get to know you a little." She says. Cas scrunches his nose up a bit at that, but concedes. He's to go visit his grandfather at the Genovian consulate in San Francisco after work. But, his mother is not yet finished bearing crappy news to Cas.

"Is that all?" he asks. Anna frowns at him.

"No, actually. You're debate teacher called." Cas groaned.

"Was it that bad?" he grumbles. Anna laughed, and attempts to smooth her son's hair down.

"Actually, no. He said it was great. But he wants to meet me and discuss your social skills." She replies. Cas groans.

"Seriously?"

"Seriously. Sorry dear." She says, shrugging. Cas rolls his eyes, and goes back to work.

* * *

><p>Upon his arrival at the Genovian consulate, Cas is reprimanded for walking on the grass, breaks the nose off an expensive looking statue, and tracks dirt on the immaculate floors. All in less than five minutes of being there. He is showed outside, where he sits at a dainty little table, set for tea. A short while later, a man he vaguely recognizes from the one picture he has of him, strolls out onto the lawn. He's a lot shorter in person.<p>

"Hiya there. You must be Castiel. You look very… young." He announces, plopping down in the chair opposite Cas. Cas blinks a few times, and nods.

"Yes. Hello, grandfather." He said politely. His grandfather snorts, and dumps six spoonful's of sugar in his tea.

"Please, kiddo, call me gramps. Or Gabe. Whatever," he replied, taking a sip. Then he pulls a letter-sized black box from his coat pocket, "For you." He adds, sliding it across the table to Cas. Cas opens it, and stares blankly.

"Thank you…?" he says, more out of courtesy than anything else.

"That is the Genovian national crest. It was mine from when I was just a bit older than you are, and your dads after me," Gabe says, and the thing grows a little on Cas as he takes it out of the box, "Now, tell me, what do you know about the Genovian throne?" Gabe asks, sipping from his excessively-sugared tea cup.

"Not much." Cas admits, easing the silver chain the crest hangs on around his neck.

"Well, currently, the country is being ruled by the dowager King, Gabriel Florian Alexi Renaldi." His grandfather continues.

Cas tries his damndest to look interested.

"That would be me." Gabe adds.

Castiel drops his teacup. It shatters.

"…What?" he stammers out.

"But seriously, call me Grandpa Gabe."

"But… that means…. My dad…. Me…. YOU… holy shit…" Cas babbles, attempting not to freak out as a smartly dressed server swoops in to clean up his destroyed tea cup.

"Whoa, calm down Castiel! Really, long story short, when your father died, it left you the only and rightful heir to the Genovian throne. 'S how it works." Gabriel continues, despite the fact that Cas is, like, 90% sure he stopped breathing.

He's a prince.

A FUCKING PRINCE.

The prince of some obscure little country, known for its pears and being the only member of the EU to have any actual money. He was going to pass out.

"Anyway, basically, all this really means is you can rule." Gabe adds. It's then that Cas's brain comes back online.

"_Rule_? I can't rule a country! I wouldn't know what to do! I hate monarchies! You don't even want me! I'm gay!" he blurts. Gabe laughs at that last one.

"Not really a big deal nowadays." He comments. Cas stares at him for 15 seconds without blinking, then does the only thing he can do. He bolts.

* * *

><p>Castiel confronts his mother the second he gets home.<p>

"You lied to me. For seventeen years!" he shouts the second he walks in the front door. Anna flinches.

"So I hear you're gay." She says, trying to sidetrack him. Cas scowls at her.

"Don't act like you couldn't already tell. What I'd like to know is why the hell you kept it a secret from me that my dad was a freaking prince! That I'M a prince! As if I wasn't enough a socially awkward freak! Let's add a fancy-ass tiara to the mix!" Cas shouts, stomping around the kitchen. Anna sighs, leaning against the counter.

"I thought I was doing the right thing." She finally says. Cas scoffs.

"The right thing for who?" he demanded.

"For all of us!" Anna insists, "If we, your father and I, secretly divorced, he would be free to marry a woman in Genovia who could produce heirs, and I'd be free to live my life with you! I mean, please, we met in collage! I was young, I wanted to paint! Can you see me walking one step behind someone for the rest of my life? With rules and regulations and the waving thing? I was scared!"  
>"Well, living with a mother who lied to me for seventeen years is scary too!" Cas fires back. Who the hell ever said he was bad at debate? Cas slammed down the orange he hadn't even realized he picked up, and moved to go upstairs.<p>

"Where are you going?" Anna asks, following him.

"To straighten up the royal bedchambers!" he snarks, stomping up the winding stairwells. His mother follows, waiting for him to finish his bedtime routines before she starts talking again.

"After the divorce, we all discussed it. Your father and grandfather agreed to keep their distance, so you could have a chance at a normal childhood. Free of ridiculous emotional complications. We were going to tell you when you turned eighteen. But then, your father died, and things changed, Castiel. We were trying to protect you." Anna insists quietly.

"I don't feel protected." Cas replied, deadpan. Anna sighed, looking sad and tired. She walked out of Cas's door.

"Goodnight." She said, as she pulled it shut. Cas flopped down onto his bed. His cat crawled up next to him.

"Oh, Zaza. You're so lucky you have no idea who your parents are." Cas groaned.

* * *

><p>"I've never ridden in a limo," Chuck Shurley mused, banging his trash lids together again, "Hey, Becky! You seen my notebook?" he shouts moving back into the house.<p>

Cas almost vomits when he sees what's waiting for him in the kitchen that morning. His grandfather is there, talking to his mom.

"Oh, no. None of this, not again. I'm going back to bed!" Cas says, throwing his hands up and turning away.

"Castiel, please, the three of us _have_ to talk." Anna pleads.

"Oh, okay. Is there anything else about me and my life I should know? Maybe a prophecy made at my birth saying I would become dictator of the world some day?" Cas snarks. Gabriel actually laughs at him.

"No. But you did have a very nice christening." The king snarks right back. Cas blinks at him.

"Yesterday… did not go well. Would you please just listen to you grandfather?" Anna pleads. Cas sighs, and turns his attentions to the man in question.

"Cassie, in a few weeks, we are having a ball. I was, and still am, hoping to present you to the press as our prince at that ball. You can have until then to decide if you want to accept the crown or not. But, let's face it, you're going to need some help," Gabe says, eyeing Cas up and down. "And it's not just me saying that. I speak for the entire Genovian parliament, and the royal family."

"And I speak for this family." His mother adds. Cas gives them a humorless laugh.

"Well, excuse me. I don't have a family, with either one of you, because you ignored me for seventeen years, and you lied to me for seventeen years. _Families_ don't do that stuff to each other." He grouses, stomping out the front door. He promptly freezes. Gabriel catches up to him a moment later.

"Ah, I see you've met Crowley. Crowley, my grandson, Castiel." Gabe says, smiling fondly at the man dressed head to toe in black. Wearing sunglasses, and a gun. Standing in front of a limo. That has little Genovian flags on it. In front of Castiel's _house_.

"That's a limousine." Cas says stupidly.

"Ah, takes after his granddaddy." Crowley teases. Gabe scowls at him.

"This one is yours. It'll take you wherever you want to go." Gabriel adds, before hopping into the second limo and zooming off. Cas rather gracelessly stumbles into his limo, and tries not to feel horribly awkward during the ride. Though, he does ask Crowley to make a stop.

Sam's mouth is hanging open when Cas steps out of the limo parked in front of the Winchesters house.

"Umm, did I miss something? Are we… going to a wedding?" Sam asks, stupefied.

"No, school, actually. This is the surprise ride. And this is Crowley." Cas says, pointing to the creepy man in black. Cas denies Crowley when he tries to open the door form them, and insists he park a block away, so Cas doesn't look like a total freak when he gets to school. The day is painful; he suffers though gym, but feels a little better after talking to Sam on the way back to his place after school. He doesn't tell him about the whole stupid _prince_ business, because, yeesh, just no. But it's nice to at least talk to someone about his dad, seeing as all those painful memories are being drudged up on him again.

That, and Cas knows that Sam's older brother, Dean is at Sam's house. And Cas has kinda sorta had the biggest most ridiculous crush on Dean Winchester since he realized he was into guys. The problem is, Dean never dates. Like, ever. Sam teases him relentlessly about it. So Cas has no idea if Dean even likes him. He's friendly enough, and actually rather attentive to Cas, but Cas isn't dumb enough to assume things that might not really be there.

"Hey, Cas." Dean greets with a smile when they walk in. Cas blushes just a smidge, and smiles right back.

"Hello, Dean." He replies. It kind of looks like Dean goes a little red too, but that's probably just the room. It's very warm.

"Another geek project, Sammy?" Dean teases. Sam scowls at him.

"Ever gonna get a date, Dean?" Sam shoots back. Dean definitely blushes this time, slinking away to the garage. They hear the sounds of a guitar strumming a few minutes later. Did Cas mention on top of Dean Winchester being incredibly sexy, he also can sing and play the guitar? And he's a mechanical genius. And basically perfect. But that's just Cas thinking.

They get their homework done, then Cas has to take off for his first day of what his mother (and Gabe) have unofficially dubbed 'prince training', which Cas thinks is beyond stupid. But he's not going to argue. The faster he gets it over with, the faster these people will get the hell out of his life.

At lessons, his grandfather insults all his clothes, his hair, his walking, sitting, posture, and basically everything about him. Then he corrects it. Cas kind of wants to scream. Or die.

When he gets home, his life gets worse.

"Hey, sweetheart?" his mother asks, trying to sound nonchalant.

"What mom?" Cas asks, from his position curled up in an armchair, reading.

"You know how I went to talk to your debate teacher, Mr. Milligan?" she continues. Cas's brow furrows.

"Yes…"

"Well, he's a very nice, employed, and not a tattooed or troubled man. And he asked me out. And I said yes." His mother replies. Cas closes the book on his face.

* * *

><p>The next day isn't much better. Before the end of the school day, Cas sneaks off into the bathroom to change into his new 'grandfather approved' attire. It's mostly just the same as his school uniform, but a size tighter, and the slacks are black instead of navy blue, and his jacket lacks the school crest. He's miserably trying to flatten his disastrous hair when Dean Freaking Winchester opens the door and freezes. They both stare at each other for a long time, until Dean breaks the silence.<p>

"Wow." He says. Cas winces.

"Is it that bad?" he asks. Dean shakes his head.

"No, no, good wow… you got a date?" he asks. Cas blanches.

"No, of course not. Don't be ridiculous Dean." He replied, returning to trying to fix his hair. He hears Dean snort something that vaguely sounds like 'not _that_ ridiculous, Cas', and then Dean moves closer, easily prying the comb from Cas's suddenly limp fingers.

"Here. Let me…" he says, wetting the comb, careful not to drip on Cas's nice new shirt, and gently flattens down his unflattenable hair. Cas is mesmerized by both their closeness, and how gentle Dean is being with him. He can feel the callouses on Dean's work roughened hands, from all his engine repairing and playing the guitar so often. But he's so incredibly careful with Castiel, like he thinks he's going to break him. When Dean is finished, it takes him a while to remove his hands from Castiel's hair. They drop loosely by his side, and they stare at each other some more. Cas has always loved Dean's eyes. They tend to stare at one another a lot, so Cas has fallen rather in love with the mossy, perfect shade of green that Dean's eyes possess. Dean almost seems to be leaning in closer, when Castiel's phone rings shrilly. They both flinch, and Cas gives Dean an apologetic look.

"I'm sorry. I'm late. I… I'll see you tomorrow. Thanks." Cas adds, awkwardly putting a hand on Dean's arm, before basically running from the bathroom. When he gets to the limo a block away from school, Crowley is glaring at him.

"His Majesty does not like it if anyone other than himself is late." He grumps. Cas snorts.

"His Majesty clearly didn't attend regular high school." He replied. He swore he saw Crowley smirking in the rearview mirror.

Prince lessons, if possible, are even worse that day. First, Gabe ties him to a chair, and forces him to learn about silverware and how to eat properly at big fancy state dinners. Then they have dance lessons. And Gabe makes him dance with Crowley.

"Since you're gay, you'll have to learn both sets of steps. Both the lead and the follow. Never know who's going to ask you to dance." Gabriel prattles on as Cas and Crowley each take a turn in the lead position.

The dance lessons start off just awful, since Cas has two left feet, but then it gets better, and eventually, he can confidently both lead and follow. Then he is dismissed.

Though, as he's passing by the window looking into the room he was just in, he sees his grandfather in the arms of Crowley, the both of them staring rather reverently at each other, dancing the most beautiful, slightly erotic dance with one another. And suddenly, Cas understands why the whole gay revelation didn't really faze grandpa Gabe.

* * *

><p>Cas feels awful as he blows Sam and Jess off for the second day in a row, running like a crazy person out of the school and to the Genovian consulate. He slides into the meeting room on his shiny black leather shoes. Gabe looks torn from being disapproving and impressed.<p>

"You're late." He simply says. Cas sighs.

"Sorry."

"And where the hell is Azazel?" Gabe demands.

"Send in Zaza." Crowley barks into his mic. A creepy looking guy with almost yellow eyes burst into the room, flanked by two women in shiny pink dresses and big sunglasses.

"Bonjourno," Azazel drawls. Cas is finding it difficult to take him seriously, seeing is Zaza is what he calls his big fat lazy cat. Then they guy gestures to the women, "My assistants, Cassie and Lisa."

"Great, fantastic, thanks for coming." Gabe adds. It's obvious the guy is making him as uncomfortable as he's making Cas, and he hasn't even done anything yet.

"Your Majesty." Azazel says, getting this crazy look in his eye. He kneels down in front of Gabe, and starts excessively kissing his hand. Gabriel looks like he wants to puke. Crowley looks like he wants to punch the guy. Eventually, Gabe has to extract his hand.

"Let's not waste time. Let the 'art' or whatever begin." Gabriel says, rather diplomatically.

"Yes, of course, where is the handsome lad?" Azazel asks. Gabe gestures to Castiel, and when the guy turns around, he lets out this ridiculous scream.

"He… is handsome. Let us… take a closer look." He decides.

Which is how Cas ends up basically strapped to a chair, with his glasses crushed, his hair cut and styled like a fashion model, and his freaking eyebrows plucked. He wants to melt into the floor and die. At some point, Crowley left, and when he returned, he had this horribly smug look on his face, which kind of freaks Cas out a little bit. He also had a bag. With clothes. Clothes that probably cost more money than everything Castiel has ever spent money on in his entire life.

They stick him in this tight black t-shirt, designer jeans that are two sizes smaller than anything Cas would ever buy on his own, these black leather shoes things that he's pretty sure cost as much as Dean's car, and 'artfully' muss his hair one more time. Then he's presented to Gabriel. His grandfather's jaw actually drops.

"Well… I'll be dammed. There was a prince in there after all." He says. Then he smiles. And Cas can't help but feel a little proud.

However, when he returns home to find out that all his old clothes and uniforms have been replaced with 'Grandfather and Crowley Approved' versions (meaning tighter, more expensive versions), he returns to his previous state of just generally pissed at the world.

* * *

><p>In an attempt to make up for ditching him yesterday, Cas has Crowley swing by Sam's place so they can pick him up. Dean is sitting out front, screwing around with something small and mechanical, when he spots the limo.<p>

"Yo, Sammy! Car's here!" he shouts, hopping off the steps and strolling down to open the door. And then Cas is right there, in his new, one size tighter school uniform and new haircut. And Dean just stops in his tracks. And they stare at each other.

"Hi." Cas finally breaths, remembering the last time they were remotely alone together, in the bathroom at school. He blushes under Dean's rather dumbfounded expression.

"Dean, don't think you're always gonna get a ride with us… holy fuck. Who turned you into a douchebag pod person?" Sam gasps. Cas grimaces.

"Is it that bad?" he asks.

"You look ridiculous." Sam deadpans.

"Well, I know it's shorter… and the clothes are tighter..."

"It's weird." Sam decides.

"A very attractive weird." Dean decides. Cas's whole face turns red, and he and Sam bicker good naturedly about Cas's new 'preppy douchebag' appearance. But Cas can't get his mind off the way Dean was looking at him. Like he wanted Cas.

When they arrive at school, Sam is still badgering him about the new look. Finally, once Dean is walking away (after a rather, in Cas's opinion, heated look back at Cas), Cas snaps.

"You know what Sam? Just because you have that ridiculous floppy-ass brown hair and those stupid puppy eyes does not mean you can bitch about me!" he shouts. Sam looks really pissed.

"Whatever Cas. I know you're keeping something from Jess and me. You're not seriously going to stick to the 'my grandpa made me get a makeover' story." Sam rips back. Cas sighs, running his hands through his hair, returning it almost back to its previous, disastrous, pre-makeover state.

"Fine, fine! I'll tell you, just, ugh. It's so ridiculous," Cas groans, pulling Sam behind a tree, "Do you know what Genovia is?" he asks quietly. Sam frowns at him.

"Yeah. It's a really little country famous for pears and being the only member of the EU with actual money." He says. Cas sighs.

"Yeah, so, the crown prince was killed in a car crash two months ago." He says, and waits for Sam to get it. At first, he's giving Cas a first-rate bitchface of confusion, then Cas see's the light bulb go off behind Sam's eyes.

"Your dad died in a car accident in Genovia two months ago…" he whispers. Cas nods.

"Yeah, turns out he was kind of the heir to the throne. And since he's dead, that makes me rightful heir." Cas mutters.

"HOLY SHIT!" Sam exclaims Cas winces and shushes him.

"You can't tell anyone! It's literally a royal secret. Especially don't tell Dean." He adds. Sam raises an eyebrow at him, but doesn't comment. With Sam knowing Cas is about as straight as a slinky, it's easy to assume he's guessed what a ridiculously massive crush Cas has on his brother. But Sam, the awesome best friend he is, never says a word.

The whole day is just too weird for Cas to deal with. Jess gushes ridiculously over his new look. He catches Dean staring twice as much as usual. And people he doesn't even know randomly come up and say hello to him. And he swears to god, at one point, he's sure Lilith squeezed his ass while he was walking down the hall with Sam. Sam simply finds the whole thing extremely hilarious, especially since he now knows Cas is a prince, and most of the days proceedings are decidedly not-princely.

Last period, however, things start to look up.

Cas has a free study block that period today, and had intended to just go to his prince lessons earlier than usual, so he could be done them a quickly as possible. However, Dean catches him as he's coming out of the bathroom, changed into his 'Gabriel and Crowley Approved' attire.

"Hey, Cas! You busy?" he asks. Cas is about to answer yes, but Dean keeps on talking, "Because there's this new coffee place or whatever that opened down the street, and I was wondering if you wanted to, you know, go check it out." Dean adds quickly. Cas feels his face breaking into this enormous goofy grin, but he can't help himself.

"Yeah, sure, I'd love to. Just let me text someone quickly here…" he adds, notifying Crowley to come pick him up from the coffee place whenever he and Dean are finished.

They walk there in relative silence, bumping shoulders and occasionally brushing hands together. Cas grabs them a seat, and Dean gets the drinks. Once he returns, the comfortable silence becomes just a smidge awkward.

"So… how you been?" Dean finally asks. Cas shrugs.

"Alright, I guess. Stressed. And stupid busy. But alright." He replies, "How about you?" he asks. Dean grins.

"Things are starting to look up." He replies, hesitantly sliding his hand across the table, and laying it on top of Cas's. Cas blushes furiously, but glances up and gives Dean a smile. Dean grins back, squeezing Cas's hand and intertwining their fingers.

Yeah, things are definitely looking up.

And Cas is most certainly almost three hours late for prince lessons.

And he doesn't give a fuck, because he's pretty sure he's dating Dean Winchester.

* * *

><p>The following morning, things get even better. Then they go to shit.<p>

Cas is walking with Dean from the limo, up the block to school. Sam had spilled the entire contents his pencil case in the back of the limo, so now Crowley was supervising while he picked up every last little thing off the immaculate floors.

Dean's walking a little closer than he was yesterday, and their fingers bump even more often than before. He breaks the comfortable silence after a few minutes.

"So… my band is gonna be playing next Saturday." He says, not casually at all. Cas laughs a little.

"A real gig?" he asks, already knowing the answer. Dean blushes and shakes his head.

"No, just rehearsing some new music and stuff. You should come. We could have White Castle Burgers." Dean wheedles. Cas grins.

"Like a date?" he asks. Dean blushes and looks down.

"Maybe. If you want it to be." He replies. Cas hooks their fingers together for a moment before letting go.

"Sounds good to me." He replies. Then they hear Sam yelling.

"Wait up, wait for me! Not you, I don't even know you! Hello, guys!" he shouts. Dean and Cas pausing snickering as Sam runs up.

"Done cleaning, Sam?" Cas teases.

"Yes." He grumbles. Then they notice the chaos of students and reporters in from of the school.

"What's going on?" Cas wonders aloud.

"Dunno. Let's check it out." Sam replies. Jess appears at that moment, just as lost as the rest of them. Cas happens upon one of the dozens of reporters standing around outside the school.

"Hi, there, um, what's going on here? Who exactly are you waiting for?" he asks. Then Meg yells out from the top of the stairwell,

"Look, there he is! That's Castiel Thermopolis!" Cas's eyes double in size, and he sends a panicked look at Sam. The reporter lifts his camera right in Cas's face.

"We're waiting for you, prince!" he says, snapping a photo of Cas slack jawed and completely surprised.

"Cas!"

"Prince Castiel!"

"Your Highness!"

"Prince!"

"Castiel!"

A million voices are shouting at him, and Cas is panicking, being shoved away from Dean and Sam.

"Sam! Did you tell!" he yells helplessly. Sam is shaking his head.

"No! I never said anything!" he pleads. Cas is being slowly maneuvered up the stairwell when he catches what Dean says next.

"Why are they calling him prince?" Dean asks, and Cas's stomach just fucking drops. They just got together, kinda. Now this stupid royalty thing had fucked it all up.

As Cas is slowly being chased up the stairwell, Principal Frank Deveraux appears at his side, quickly rushing him into the building along with Mr. Milligan. He looks around in vain for Dean and Sam, and hears Lilith spewing some bullshit story about all the times Cas has supposedly taken her out on dates.

The next thing Cas knows, his sitting in front of Principal Deveraux's desk, the newspaper being shoved in his face. And his photo is on the front page.

"What?" he says weakly, snatching the paper away from the administrator.

"Our phones are ringing off the hook." He says solemnly.

"Cas," Mr. Milligan says from behind him, "Your mother's on her way." Cas nods slowly. This isn't happening. It can't be. Not like this.

And then the phone rings.

"Deveraux. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Uuuhhhh-huh." He hangs up. "The King is coming." Is all he has to say on the matter. Cas wants to sink into the floor.

* * *

><p>Gabriel storms into the office, looking more upset and worried than Cas has ever seen him. He takes one look at his grandson and starts ranting.<p>

"What the hell? How did this happen? No one knew! Not a damn person in this fucking ridiculous American city knew that he was the prince. And somehow, it's on the front fucking page of the New York Times." He raves. Crowley puts a placating hand on his shoulder. Gabriel takes several deep breaths, and then accepts the tea Principal Deveraux hands him.

"I don't know who could have told, grandpa. I didn't…" Cas begins. Then one of the minor security guys bursts into the room. With Azazel. The hairdresser.

"Speak." Gabriel commands, in the most kingly voice Cas has ever heard him use.

"Your Majesty… it was I who told the press about the prince. I outed you," at the sharp looks he receives from almost everyone in the room, he backtracks a tad, "Not like that, I would never imply… But! Not for the money. Zaza hates money, he spits on money! There was no money. Well, there was some money, I mean each ring… the point is, it was pride, and ego that drove me to know that royalty would see one day the beauty was mine! The hair was mine! That I, Zaza Daemon, was responsible…!" Crowley cut him off. Gabe prissily gestured him out. Crowley took great pleasure in manhandling the hairstylist out of Principal Deveraux's office.

"…Well, shit." Frank finally says, breaking the tense silence. Gabriel sighed, yanking at his hair a little.

"Crowley, can you please show Principal Deveraux the security plans to ensure Castiel's safety?" he asked tiredly. Crowley grumbled his reply, and lead Frank from the office.

"You know, before all this, Cas was just a normal little kid…" Anna started saying.

"He was never normal," Gabriel replied, "He was born royal. We put up with press shit every day, and we'll do it again."

"You don't have to do this, you can get out of this whole thing, right now." Anna insists, taking ahold of Castiel's shoulders.

"Your mother is right, Castiel. We did have a deal." Cas sighed heavily.

"Alright, alright. I'll think about it. And let you know soon." Gabriel snorts at him.

"Such a diplomatic answer. Polite, but vague. You would make a fine Genovian Prince indeed."

* * *

><p>Cas was most certainly hiding. He was up on the rooftop tennis court, perched under a big black umbrella, watching Crowley score a few too many one handed baskets. He sighed heavily. He hadn't seen Sam, or Dean, since this morning. Cas was freaking out just a lot.<p>

"Holy fuck, finally! Cas!" Castiel whipped around at the sound of Sam's voice.

"Sam." He sighed, the tension draining out of his shoulders.

"Prince Cassie, you are officially the most popular being in school. Everyone wants to be your friend. Or creepily take your picture." He babbles.

"I hate that nickname, you know." Cas grumbles, joining Sam up on the bleachers.

"Yeah, yeah. But Jess made me this list of all the reasons you shouldn't have to be a prince. And she insists I read it to you. Number one, no privacy." Sam reads off.

"And isn't that the fucking truth." Cas sighs.

"Number two, you have to look like a pod person super douche _all the time_." Cas has to laugh at that one.

"And number three?" he enquires, then frowns when he sees Sam blush.

"Number three… how are you ever going to go on nice dates with my brother, if the whole world is stalking you?" he mutters finally. Cas is so shocked, he loses his footing on the slippery step and lands gracelessly on his ass on one of the bleachers. He and Sam stare wide-eyed at each other for a few seconds, and then they burst out laughing. Crowley comes over, mostly to make sure Castiel hasn't killed himself, then leaves them to it.

"What am I gonna do Sam? Is he mad?" Cas finally asks. Sam looks very uncomfortable, but being the awesome friend he is, still answers.

"No, he wasn't mad. More like so shocked he couldn't even speak. He doesn't think he's good enough for you." Sam answers. Cas gives a hollow laugh.

"As if. He's perfect." Cas says. Sam makes some spectacular fake gagging sounds.

"Dude. That's my brother." Sam retaliates. Cas snorts, then sighs.

"I wanted to be able to tell him. He shouldn't have found out like this." Cas mutters. Sam pats his shoulder.

"It'll turn out alright Cas. Trust me."

* * *

><p>Even after all that ridiculous shit, Cas still somehow ends up roped into a horrible royal dinner party the same night as the big reveal. Which he manages to ruin rather epically by launching a grape in just the wrong direction. Thankfully, Gabriel thinks this is hilarious, and they spend the whole next day together. In that time, Cas really starts to see some of himself in Gabriel. Especially in his Grandpa's newfound love of White Castle Hamburgers and old school photo booths.<p> 


	2. Part II

Cas doesn't get a chance to talk to or even see Dean until the following Monday at school (the whole 'Oh, Cas is the Prince of some random little Country in Europe' revelation occurred on a Friday).

As the limo pulls up to school, Cas is once again bombarded with reporters, as well as a bunch of people he doesn't know or talk to asking for his autograph. It's not until he spies the two little girls with hospital bracelets that he pauses.

"Hi, what's your name?" Cas asks softly, taking the pen and notebook from one of the little girls hands.

"Jessica." She answers.

"Well, I have a very good friend whose name is Jessica," Cas adds, signing it and reaching for the other little girl's, most probably Jessica's twin, notebook, "And what's your name?" he asks.

"Pamela." She replies.

"Well, that's a beautiful name. Are you two twins?" he asks. They nod, and he spends another few minutes talking with them, until Crowley ushers him off to AP Latin. That's when he spots Dean, sitting on the steps with his guitar, watching him. Cas gives a shy wave, and Dean starts, blushing at getting caught staring.

* * *

><p>Dean catches him at his locker between classes.<p>

"Ummm… hi." He finally says. Cas frowns at him.

"I don't like that you're being like this." He decides. Dean looks surprised.

"Like what?" he demands.

"Treating me differently than you normally would because of the… thing." Cas replies. Dean snorts.

"You mean the 'thing' where you're the sole heir to the throne of some rich European country? Yeah, there's that. There's also that you didn't even tell me. We've been friends for how long?" Dean snaps back. Cas slams his locker shut.

"I was going to! Fuck Dean, I only told Sam the day before the whole world found out, and I only fucking found out myself like a week ago! Of course I wanted to tell you! I just… you started to notice me more. When I looked different. And I was scared that that was the only reason you were noticing me more. So I was terrified to tell you the prince thing, because I thought…"

"You thought I was only in it for the hot, douchebag pod person version of you?" Dean asks quietly. Cas sighed and nodded.

"I can't help it. Before all this, I had three people, maybe, that talked to me in school. Now the whole damn building is my best friend. Shit, _Meg_ has claimed to the local news we've been dating for the past 8 months." Cas replied, exasperated. Dean snorted.

"Doesn't anyone know you bat for the other team?" he asked. Cas shook his head.

"Not many. Though, my grandfather is surprisingly very okay with it. Probably because he's a bit on the bisexual side… and I really shouldn't have said that." But Dean snorted.

"Why don't you just announce it or whatever?" he asked. Cas sighed loudly.

"Because despite the fact that this is indeed the 21st century, something as big as the sole heir to the Genovian throne being gay still has to be 'handled with care'." Cas replied. Dean looked positively crestfallen.

"So… does that mean we're off for Saturday?" he asks. Cas blinks several times stupidly, then shakes his head so hard he almost gives himself whiplash.

"No, absolutely not. We're still on for Saturday. It's just… if we're in public… we need to be… discrete." Cas replied. Dean nodded slowly, an absolutely gorgeous smile blossoming across his face.

"Too bad. I really wanted to kiss you just then." He says. Cas looks at him dumbly for a second, then scowls.

"Tease." He accuses.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Dean taunts, before taking his leave. Cas shakes his head, unable to wipe the grin off his face. It doesn't even matter that Dean didn't really answer the question, if he wanted Cas for Cas or Cas for his new status. The answer was obvious.

* * *

><p>Cas was freaking out. This seemed to happen way, wayyy too much lately. But at least this was a semi good reason to freak out. He was meeting Dean in half an hour at Dean's place. His band rehearsed in Dean's garage. He didn't want to look stupid, but this was the first occasion he really had to wear the ridiculous clothes Crowley and Gabriel had picked out for him, and he didn't want to look like a 'pod person douchebag'. His mom was laughing at him a little.<p>

"Are you nervous? My little Cassie, nervous to go on his first date." She coos, making Castiel send her an exasperated glare.

"Mother, please. It's not even really a date. His band and Sam and probably Jess are all going to be there too." Castiel replied, tossing another shirt aside. Anna snorted at him.

"Sweetheart, even I wasn't this nervous on my first date with Adam." She said.

"Adam?" Cas asked.

"Oh, Mr. Milligan. That's his first name." she replied. Cas mimed retching at the thought of his mom and his debate teacher, and finally settled on a blue t-shirt (which was stupid tight, but he didn't really have a choice), and a pair of designer jeans that cost more than all his textbooks put together, but made his ass look really good (according to his mother. Which was weird and awkward, even if the sentiment was appreciated). A sensible pair of shoes and black leather jacket completed the ensemble. His mother looked ready to cry. Cas was really getting tired of being embarrassed and surprised all the time.

He walked the short distance to Dean's house, and knocked on the door. He tried very hard to ignore the two secret service agents that had followed him, and then stationed themselves in front of the Winchester house. Mary, Dean and Sam's really awesome mom, answered the door.

"Oh, Castiel! Dean mentioned you'd be coming over. Come in, sweetheart." She said. Cas couldn't help the relieved smiled that crossed his face. Even with all this royalty hullaballoo, Mary Winchester would always treat him the same; like he was just another one of her boys.

Cas followed Mary to the kitchen, where John was sitting at the table with Sam. Sam, being both awesome and a total ass, jumped up from the table and bowed so low, his nose almost hit the ground.

"Your Majesty!" he exclaimed, attempting to kiss Cas's hand. Cas slapped him on the face.

"I hate you. So much. And for future reference, it's 'Your Highness'. The Majesty thing is only for the king and queen." Cas snarked. Sam laughed at him, and dragged him over onto one of the empty chairs. John glanced up at him then.

"So… you have a date with my son?" he asked. Cas chokes on his words, and Sam almost falls out of his chair laughing.

"John!" Mary scolded, "Leave the poor thing alone. He's been through enough the last few days."

"Right, yeah. Prince of Genovia. I suppose I should be giving Dean a high five." John mused, unable to contain his grin. It was so, very, incredible obvious the whole 'prince' revelation didn't change a thing about him when it came to the Winchesters. So, everyone started laughing, which is how Dean found them when he came in through the garage door a couple minutes later.

"Mom, why are there two creepy guys in suits standing in front of our house?" Dean asks, not having spotted Cas yet.

"That… is my fault. Grandfather wanted them to tail me. To make sure nothing 'goes wrong'." Cas replied, giving exaggerated air quotes. Dean seemed struck dumb for a second, finally noticing Cas. And how fucking hot he looked in that leather jacket. He shook himself out of it fast enough for no one to really notice.

"Are you guys being horrible to him? Please don't." Dean sighed. Cas sniggered.

"Nah. Your father just wants to give you a high five." Cas replied.

"For scoring a prince and getting us in the good life." Sam adds. Dean flushed tomato red and groaned. Cas laughed at him, then rose to join him by the garage door.

"Shall we?" he asked, placing a hand on Dean's shoulder.

"Yes, please, get me away from these people." Dean replied. His family laughed some more, so Dean shoved Cas through the door pretty fast. He was met with a sight he wasn't really expecting.

The band wasn't there. There was just an old blanket tossed on the floor, with a big White Castle Hamburger's bag sitting on it. And only one light was on, making the garage rather dimly lit.

"… Dean?" Cas asked, turning to look at him. Dean was flushed with embarrassment again.

"I, uh. I thought if this was gonna be a date, it might as well be a proper one. I thought we could do dinner, and then maybe take a drive? I just finished the interior of the Impala. I'd like it if you got to see it first." Dean finally said, with a shrug. Cas gave him a blinding smile in return.

"I'd like that too, Dean. A lot." Cas replied, taking a seat on the blanket. Dean joined him without hesitation.

They ate in silence for a few minutes, until Cas brought up something he'd been thinking about since he arrived.

"Dean, your family seemed very… ok with this. Us. Our going on a date. That came out so, very wrong." Cas groaned, shoving some fries in his mouth to shut himself up. Dean laughed at him in response.

"Dude, they've known I was gay from the get-go. When I was in first grade, all the kids in the class played kiss tag. 'Cept I only wanted to kiss the boys." Dean replied, and Cas had to laugh with him.

"Is that why you never date? Because none of the boys at our school… caught your fancy?" Cas asked. Dean smirked at him.

"Well, one did. He had these huge, geeky glasses, too big clothes, and carried so many books we all thought he was gonna be a hunchback. And he was the hottest guy I'd ever laid eyes on." Dean concluded. Cas was fire engine red at this point.

"We met when I was 13. And you were still attracted to me? I was awful looking." Cas said. Dean shook his head.

"Nah. You really weren't." he replied simply. Cas smiled at him, and they finished their meal in easy silence, stealing fries off each other's napkins. When they were finished, Dean dangled his keys in Cas's face, making him laugh.

"Yes, yes, alright. Let's go for a drive." He said. Dean smiled, wrapping an arm around Cas's shoulders as he opened the garage door. The two security guys immediately perked up.

"Prince Castiel?" one of them asked. Cas exhaled sharply through his nose. Dean gave him a gentle squeeze.

"We're just going for a drive guys, then I'm heading home. Go back to the consulate and get some sleep. I'll be fine. No one knows I'm here." Cas insisted. They both nodded, but stuck around until after Dean had pulled the Impala out of the driveway and into the street.

The drove aimlessly, in relaxed silence, hands intertwined on the seat between them. Dean broke the silence a while later.

"Do you want to go down to the beach?" he asked quietly. Cas nodded his approval, and Dean turned down the correct street. Once the Impala was in park, they hopped out, and Dean almost immediately reached over to take Cas's hand. Cas smiled up at him, and dragged Dean down the beach, laughing. They walked for a short way, until Dean stopped short, looking at Cas a little funny.

"What?" Cas asked. But before he could ask any further questions, Dean's lips were on his.

Cas shocked still for a second, not willing to believe this moment was actually, finally happening. He'd only been dreaming about kissing Dean Winchester since middle school. Then he groaned and kissed Dean back, wrapping his fingers securely in Dean's shirt while Dean's got one hand in Cas's perpetually messed up hair, and the other around his waist. Castiel gasped when he felt Dean's tongue across his lip, allowing his mouth to fall open and Dean to surge forward with his tongue, attempting to map out the insides of Cas's mouth with that alone. Cas tried to pull Dean closer, pulling lightly on his hair and clawing at his back, and ends up tipping them over backwards. They landed with a soft huff in the sand, Dean looking down at Cas from over top of him, before the not-quite prince yanked Dean down into another fiery passionate kiss. Tongues twining, lips smacking, it was dirty, loving and perfect, and Cas never wanted it to stop.

Being only human though, they eventually had to break for air. Dean rested his forehead against Cas's, and grinned down at him.

"Does this mean you'll be my boyfriend?" the older teen asks. Cas laughs softly, placing a chaste kiss on his lips.

"Of course, you idiot. I've only been crushing on you since we met." Cas replied, kissing him one more time. Dean grinned happily at him, getting up off the smaller teen and helping him up. They brushed sand off each other (Dean spending a little more time on Castiel's ass than strictly necessary), and returned to the Impala. Dean drove Cas back to his house, where they made out a little more in the front seat. Then Dean walked him to his door.

"You had fun, right?" Dean asked. Cas looked at him like he was a dumbass, and pecked him quickly on the mouth.

"That was the most fun I have had in ages. We should do it again. Soon. Very soon." Cas replied.

"Not a problem." Dean said, kissing him one last time, "Goodnight." He added.

"Night, Dean." Cas replied, watching Dean get back in his car before stepping into the house. Nothing, absolutely nothing, could ruin how perfect tonight was.

* * *

><p>Except maybe school the next day. Where Sam thrusts a newspaper into Cas's face, his expression pained. And the front page image is, once again, of Cas. But this time he's with Dean. And they're making out on the beach. And Dean is on top of him. And it looks about 10x worse than it actually was. And there's another picture under that one of Dean kissing him goodnight in front of his house. And his whole world has just gone to shit again. For, like, the third time this week. And Cas can't take it anymore.<p>

He finds Dean by his locker, and just lays the most ridiculous, drooling, tongue-riddled kiss right on him. Because he heard at least three people claim that the pictures were photoshopped, and he'll be damned if his life is going to hell, then the demons might as well have the facts straight. Then he storms to the limo Crowley still has parked outside, climbs in in record time, and let's himself cry for a little while. Because he basically just came out to the entire world, and dragged Dean right out of the closet with him.

Crowley takes him straight to the Genovian consulate, and Cas wastes no time walking into Gabriel's office.

His grandfather looks pissed, worried, mad, and about 100 other things. And he has three copies of that fucking newspaper on his desk. Gabriel takes a deep breath before he begins talking.

"When I said, that you being gay was fine, I meant it. And I still do. It is not a big deal to me. But I thought it was clear that we had to handle the situation _with care_." He finally says, slow and drawn out and unlike Castiel has ever heard him talk.

"You think I wanted this? We had no idea someone was watching. No one except you, my mother, the security detail and Dean's family knew I was going to be at his house. And no one but Dean and I knew we were going to be on that beach. I don't know how someone found out. This is not how I pictured telling my peers I was homosexual. This is not how I planned on telling the nations of the world I was going to eventually be, like, the first openly gay king ever. I can't do this, grandpa. It's killing me, and now it's ruining Dean's life too. I… I just can't." Cas replies, just as slow and drawn, but his voice hitches at the end, and silent, angry, upset tears roll down his face.

Gabriel is silent for a good long while, digesting everything his grandson has just told him.

"I understand. We had an agreement; you did not have to take the crown. I respect your decision to remain out of the royal family. However, I still want you to come to the ball. You are still family, and the invites to your friends have already been sent out. We'll have a nice time, and this can all be over." Gabriel replies. Cas nods slowly, wiping tears from his face as he leaves the room. As soon as the door to his study shuts, Gabriel puts his head in his hands, and allows himself five minutes to be upset and cry about losing his grandson, probably for good. Because later, he has to go back to being the king.

* * *

><p>As much as he hated to do so, Castiel still went to school the next day. The limo rolled up to Sam and Dean's house, and the brothers were waiting outside for him. Sam gave him a hug, and Dean just held his hand. Sam says something about Alistair, the captain of the football team, bragging all day yesterday that he'd seen Cas arrive at Dean's house (spying from his home across the street), and had called the local paper to follow them when he noticed they left in the Impala, without the security detail. Cas didn't even have it in him to be pissed. He was just too tired.<p>

School, if possible, was even worse today than yesterday. Though, that was probably because Cas had only attended school for about 5 minutes the day before, and denied his classmates the opportunity to make fun of him some more. There were pictures of him and Dean taped up all over their lockers, the bathrooms, and the hallways. The janitors were doing their best to take them all down, but new ones were getting put up in their places. Cas just wanted to know who had the patience to cut out 100 individual pictures from the front page.

There were the usual random shouts of 'fags', 'homos', and just 'GAY' screamed very loudly. There were also a few more creative slurs, such as 'Prince Cockstiel', 'Prince Pucker-up', and a bunch of people asking if there was still sand in some rather private places. Cas just grin and bared it, ignoring them all the best he could, and sticking close to Sam, Jess, and Dean the whole day.

At noon, Cas managed to regain some of his dignity. Alistair, Lilith, Meg, Ruby, and a bunch of other jocks and cheerleaders were just razzing on him, seeing as he didn't have the same lunch time as Sam or Dean. Jess was there, but there's only so much the spunky little blonde can do. Cas had been trying to enjoy the ice cream Jess had brought him, until the teasing and the name calling just became too much for him. He strolled up to Alistair, and smeared the chocolate and sprinkles all over his football jersey. Alistair screamed like a little girl, and yelled at Principal Deveraux to do something about 'the psycho homo prince'. Deveraux was more than happy to act as though he hadn't seen anything, and Cas left the lunch courtyard with a smile on his face, arm-in-arm with Jessica.

After the final bell had rung, Dean found Cas hiding out on the rooftop tennis court, waiting for most of the student body to leave, so he could avoid harassment on his way to Crowley and the limo. Dean plops down next to Cas on the bottom bleacher, and sighs.

"I had no idea he was watching." Is all he says. Cas shakes his head, taking Dean's hand in his own and squeezing tightly.

"No one could have. My grandfather's highly trained Genovian security detail didn't even know. It's not your fault. I should never have let you leave the house with me. I fucked everything up. I outed you to the whole damn world." Cas babbled. Dean shut him up with a kiss.

"I don't give a flying fuck about the whole damn world. My family already knew, and that was all that mattered. And I finally had you. I absolutely refuse to lose you over this." Dean said with more conviction than Cas had ever heard him speak with. Castiel sighed, running his free hand through his hair.

"It won't matter after tonight anyway. This was the last day for me to accept the crown, and I already told them no. I'm not going to be the prince after all." Cas says. Dean looks shocked.

"But… I want you to be. I want the world for you, Cas. I know it's going to be hard… but I'll stand by you, through all of it. If you'll let me." Dean replies. Cas huffs out a humorless laugh.

"I'm not cut out for this, Dean." Is all Cas will say. He stands, kisses Dean one last time, and makes his way down to the limo. Crowley takes him straight home, where Gabriel is waiting for him in his living room.

"For you." is all he says, handing Cas the box that his Genovian crest had been in, from the day he first met Gabriel. He opens it, and it's just empty. Cas huffs out a small laugh.

"Thanks, grandpa." He says, taking a seat across from the King.

"I return to Genovia the day after tomorrow." He says simply. Cas nods sadly. He's going to miss the goofy man, "I also wanted to mention that the press scandal from the whole… kissing on the beach incident has died down considerably. I know it's still probably horrible at school, but on the international playing field, we've all come to the understanding that you are young, a little naïve, and that it wasn't your fault that it all came screaming out like this. So… no worries on that front." Gabe adds with a smile. Castiel can't help but smile back.

"Thanks, grandpa." Cas replies. Gabriel gives him a softer, more loving smile this time.

"The truth is… I've been thinking about it a quite a great deal, and I think, you would have made a wonderful Prince of Genovia. People think princes are supposed to learn how to sword fight, and marry a pretty princess, and look prefect all the damn time. But it is so much more than that. It's a real job." Gabriel says. Cas sighs, looking down.

"You are and extraordinary person, Grandpa. But I don't think I'm meant to do this. I'm so afraid that I'm going to disappoint the people of Genovia, that I'm going to disappoint you." Cas finally says, raising his eyes to meet hos grandfathers.

"Well, I have faith in you." Is all Gabriel will reply.

* * *

><p>"I'm a writer, you know," Chuck says. Crowley glances at him from the corner of his eye, "I write smut, you know. Porn." Chuck adds, "Didja ever read <em>Supernatural<em>?"

"No." Crowley replies.

"It's a big hit. I wrote a character like you once. He was a demon." Chuck says.

"I'm not a demon." Is all Crowley says. Chuck looks at him with a bizarrely critical eye.

"That's what the character said."

* * *

><p>"I'll see you tonight then." Cas says, kicking off his shoes to practice some yoga. It always helped him relax when he was stressed out. And fuck, has he been stressed lately.<p>

"Ah, I do have one more little favor to ask," Gabriel says as he's heading for the door, "I need you to formally renounce your title, for the press, at the ball."

"Make a speech?" Cas asks carefully.

"Yeah, Cassie. A speech. Those things where you stand up and talk to people with microphones and cameras. Just pretend their bugs you're about to squash on a windshield. I'll have Crowley pick you up…"

"Uh, no," Cas says quickly, a dumb-ass plan formulating in his head, "I promised I'd let my mom drive me. You know. She wants to take me to my first ball, or whatever."

"Allllllrighty then. I'll see you there." Gabriel says, squinting a tad suspiciously at his grandson, but he takes his leave nonetheless.

"Oh, grandpa!" Cas calls out as Gabriel reaches for the door, "I am sorry." Cas blurts, feeling really bad about giving all this royalty up for the first time. Not because of his own problems, but because of how sad Gabriel seems to be about letting him go. The king sighs, turning back around.

"Oh, Castiel. You are first, and foremost, my grandson." Is all Gabe says before he's striding across the room and hugging the stuffing out of Cas. Cas hugs him back tightly. Once Gabe finally releases Cas, he gives him a smile, and heads for the door once again, "Don't be late!" he calls over his shoulder as he leaves. Cas sighs loudly at the empty house, and flings himself backwards over the couch. Then he's in motion.

Cas runs all around the upstairs hallways, grabbing bags and flinging stuff in them. He knocks the empty box Gabriel brought him to the floor, leans to pick it up, and doesn't notice the envelope that falls out of the bottom of it. Balthazar moves to lie on top of the new object in the room, and Cas starts talking to himself.

"I'm sorry dad, but I can't be a prince! I'm gay, damn it, and I am not Gabriel Renaldi, and… and I just. I can't do it, okay! I'm scared." Cas babbles, throwing more of his stuff into bags, "Come on, Balthazar, it's time to pack, let's get your things," Cas demands. Balthazar looks at him and meows, " Zaza? What have you got there?" Cas asks, getting down on the floor to pick up the big, fat cat, putting him in his carrier, "Come on, Balthazar, we're going on a trip. We're going to Colorado, where we can climb some real rocks." Cas mutters, mostly to himself. Then he spy's the letter Balthazar had been laying on top of. Grumbling to himself, Cas picks it up and opens it without much care. Then he realizes who it's from.

_My Dearest Son,_

_Today is your seventeenth birthday. Congratulations. I present to you this family crest, so that you may have a little piece of your family here in Genovia with you always. It is a custom in my family to pass on a piece of wisdom when one reaches this age. I pass it on to you as my father passed it on to me. Castiel, courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear. The brave may not live forever, but the cautious do not live at all. From now on, you'll be traveling the road between who you think you are, and who you can be. They key, is to allow yourself to make the journey. I also want you to know, I loved your mother very much, and still think of her often. Happy birthday, my Cassie._

_All my love,_

_Your Father_

Cas stares at the letter for a good, long while, mindlessly mopping tears off his face. Then he makes his decision.

"The trip is off, Zaza." Cas announces, letting the cat out of his kennel and rushing around the room. His ridiculously fancy, stupidly expensive tuxedo is hanging at the back of his closet. He gets it on as fast as he can, tucking the Genovian crest under his shirt, ignoring the state of his hair, and racing down the stairs. Then he hears the thunder crack, and it stars to pour rain. Cas bites back a scream of frustration. He was going to have to scooter to the consulate. And now he has to do it in the rain. This was going to destroy his shoes. Flinging open the front door, Cas is met with a slightly startlingly, but very welcome sight.

Dean is there, leaning against the Impala, standing under a big blue umbrella, looking smug and very sexy in his own tuxedo.

"Man, finally! I thought I was going to have to come in there," Dean gives him a wolfish grin, "The King and Crowley thought you were going to make a run for it. They sent me to intercept. Though, I gotta say, I was expecting more bags and less ridiculous sexiness in that tux." Dean says easily. Cas smiles so wide his face hurts, and launches himself at the older boy, kissing the life out of him. Eventually, he has to pull back, because he is already crazy late.

"Come on, we gotta go. If I miss the speech thing, then I lose the crown." Cas says quickly. Dean gives him a blinding smile.

"I knew you'd come around." He replies, kissing Cas one more time before opening the door for him. Cas jumps in the car, and Dean breaks the vast majority of speed and safety laws getting them to the consulate.

* * *

><p>Gabriel is sitting in an ornate but very uncomfortable chair, tapping his foot relentlessly. He has just sent off yet another reporter attempting to get an interview before the official statements, and they are running out of time. Gabe jumps to his feet when Crowley and the Genovian Prime Minister, Robert 'Bobby' Singer, approach him. But Crowley is frowning.<p>

"No, sire." He says simply, shaking his head. Gabriel sighs heavily.

"Then it's time." He says simply, shrugging and tipping his head so the crown he wears almost falls off. Then he makes his way to the podium in the press room.

"His Majesty, the King!" someone announces as Gabriel takes to the stand. He puts on his best king smile, and begins.

"My fellow Genovian's, and honored guests. Good evening. I apologize for the delay, and may I say, welcome, to our grand Genovian Independence Day Ball. Thank you so much for your patience. I have an announcement to make. My grandson…" Gabriel is interrupted by someone clearing their throat to his right. He turns, and is met with the sight of Castiel, dressed up as princely as can be, Dean grinning at his side. Crowley is there as well, giving Gabe a positive nod. The king feels his heart lift, "I… would like to announce that my grandson has arrived. Castiel, would you care to say a few words?" he asks, gesturing for Cas to come forward.

"Uh, yes, thank you, your Majesty," Cas stutters out, moving forward to take his grandfather's place at the podium. He glances out into the audience. His mother is there, beaming at him. Sam and Jess are there too, holding hands and smiling. Cas is happy they finally got it together. Dean's parents are even there, and Mary looks like she might have some tears in her eyes. Cas takes a deep breath, sure of his decision, and starts to talk;

"Good evening, everyone. And thank you all once again for attending tonight's Genovian Independence Day Ball. As has become public recently, I am in fact the son of the late Crown Prince of Genovia, and yes, I am gay," a few nervous chuckles spread through the room. Cas takes a deep breath and continues, "You'll have to excuse the way this was handled. I only discovered I was royalty a few weeks ago, and was slightly unprepared for the consequences of that," this gets a few honest laughs, which pushes Castiel to move forward, "A few hours ago, I was ready to pass up the opportunity to follow in my father's footsteps as heir to the Genovian throne. I'm two weeks away from turning seventeen, and not much scares me quite like the idea of responsibility. However," Cas takes one last, steadying breath, and solidifies his choice, "However, I would not be able to live with myself if I made such a terrible, egotistical decision. There is nothing," he raising his eyes from the audience, looking straight into the camera pointed at his face, "Nothing I would rather do than make a difference in the world, and the very best way I can achieve that is by accepting my responsibilities as heir to the throne, and promising to do my very best to see to the needs of the people of Genovia, and the people of the world," Cas pauses, smiling a little to himself as he finishes, "This morning, I woke up, and I was Cas Thermopolis. But, tonight, and from now on, I will be Castiel James Thermopolis Renaldi, Prince of Genovia."

There is ecstatic applause, which makes Cas smile and release the breath he didn't realize he was holding. There's Gabriel returning up to the podium to give him a hug, and his mother smiling so wide at him, it looks like her face is about to crack. Then Crowley comes forward with this simple, small gold circlet crown on a big purple pillow. Gabriel picks it up and grins at Cas.

"This was my very first crown. It was my one of my favorites, and I'm hoping it will be one of yours as well." He says. Cas ducks his head instinctively, allowing his grandfather to settle the circlet on his head. It weighs heavily on his ears, but it's a good kind of heavy.

"Grandpa… you had all this ready. How did you know I'd even be here?" Cas asked. Gabriel smiles at him.

"Because I recognize the same spirit in you as… someone else I know," he says. At Castiel's questioning look, Gabriel gives him an almost smarmy grin, "Me." He says, making Castiel laugh and hug him again. The Prime Minister starts singing the Genovian National Anthem, and Gabriel offers Cas his hand. Castiel smiles, taking the offered hand, and the two of them stand before the podium, and everyone gathered there.

"His Majesty, King Gabriel, and His Royal Highness, Castiel, Prince of Genovia." Prime Minister Bobby Singer announces. The crowd breaks out into applause again, and Cas and Gabe smile pretty for the cameras.

Then it's time for the dance.

Castiel had known for the get-go that he was to make a big fancy entrance with Gabriel into the ballroom, and then they were to start off the ball with a dance. Gabriel was dancing with the Prime Minister's wife Ellen, and Cas could dance with whoever he wanted. He just hopped his chosen partner was up for it.

After a few touch ups to his hair and clothes by Azazel, Cas took his grandfather's hand once again, and they walked, heads held high, into the immaculate consulate ballroom. Everyone bowed as they walked past, which made Cas a little uncomfortable, but he supposed he better just get used to it.

Ellen meets Gabriel out on the dance floor, and Cas casts a nervous glance around the room, looking for Dean. He'd lost track of him since he'd gone up onto the podium. Cas spied Sam and Jess, and supposed if all else failed, he could probably get Jessica to dance with him.

It was then that Dean slowly stepped out from behind his freakishly tall little brother, glancing sheepishly around as he came up to Cas.

"Bow." Cas whispered. Dean complied, both of them giving shallow little bows before Cas took Dean's hands, putting one at his waist, and the other in his right hand. He placed his left on Dean's waist as well.

"I have no idea what I'm doing." Dean whispered. Cas grinned.

"Don't worry. I do. Just… follow my lead." He whispered back. Dean laughs softly, and then they started to waltz across the dance floor. Other couples started to join them then.

Cas's mom was smiling at him from the arms of Mr. Adam Milligan, Sam and Jess were discretely making fun of Dean for having to dance in the 'chick' position, and John and Mary Winchester were grinning happily at both their sons. Crowley came onto the dance floor as well, cutting in to Gabriel's dance with Ellen. Everyone took it easily in stride, the whole 'Genovian Royal Family is gay' revelation really being old news at this point.

After a respectable full dance, Dean dropped his arms, taking Cas's hands in his own, and leading him out to the gardens. Cas could vaguely hear Crowley joking in the background,

"Awe, he had the same idea I had. But now the garden is occupado!"

Dean turned in an almost full circle, before finally looking at Cas. His eyes tracked over the younger man's new clothes, the face that was so, very familiar to Dean, up to the royal circlet of gold resting on his head. Dean took a deep breath, and said the one thing that had been bugging him since the whole prince revelation come to light.

"Why me? I mean," he pauses, his eyes once again resting on the crown adorning Cas's head, "You're a prince. I'm probably just going to be some blue-collar mechanic." Cas gives him a wry smile.

"Because it's always been you. Just because I'm royal, doesn't mean I'm gonna be any different that I was before. I mean, come on, yes I'm going to have to live in Genovia for a little bit, but I'm still going to go to school and…" Dean cut off Cas's babbling rant with a kiss.

Cas will still wonder, years later, if Gabriel and Crowley had been watching them, because almost immediately after their lips touched, the lights and fountains went on in the gardens, illuminating them in an almost magical glow.

Cas pulled back, taking in their stunning surroundings, and looking up at Dean, beautifully illuminated in the garden's glow. And there really only was one thing left to say;

"I love you." Dean blinked several times in shock, before swooping in for another, more passionate kiss than ever before. He pulled away after a minute, to whisper against Cas's lips,

"I love you too. I always have," Before diving in to recapture the prince's lips. They could vaguely hear applause from inside, but Cas could seriously, for sure this time, not give a fuck. Because he was DEFINATLY dating Dean Winchester now.

* * *

><p><span>Epilogue<span>

After an extremely fun night of (some rather bad) dancing, mostly with Dean, but also with Castiel's mother, Sam, Jess, and even Dean's mom, Cas snuck Dean out of the ball and up to one of the topmost bedrooms in the Genovian consulate, where they… solidified their rather profound bond for one another. Crowley didn't even bat an eyelash when he found them there the next morning, naked and kissing under the sheets. All he said was to get packed and get ready to go. The plane to Genovia was off in 5 hours.

Cas sighed, leaning back into the rather plush and comfortable seat on the private royal family jet as they flew over the European countryside. He toyed with his Genovian crest with one hand, the other firmly clasped in Dean's. The entire Winchester family, along with Jess, Anna, and Mr. Milligan were coming to spend the whole summer with Castiel in his (he could hardly believe this) palace. They were all returning to the States in the fall, so Cas, Sam and Jess could finish senior year at Grove High, while Dean intended to take some collage classes in mechanics, as well as work with his band in his free time.

"Prince Castiel," Crowley said from behind them, where he was sitting next to Balthazar (who was resting comfortably on his royal kitty pillow), "Look out the window, and welcome to Genovia." Crowley adds.

Cas leaned over to peer out the window, Dean beside him.

"Whoa." Dean breathed in his ear. Cas laughed jubilantly, and turned his head to capture Dean's lips in an exuberant kiss, before turning back to stare at the expansive palace that was to be his new home. Cas could definitely get used to the Prince gig, especially if it meant he got to hold on to Dean, and their families, through it all.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: TTAAAAAAAAAAAAA-DDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! Man, I love this story. I'm so proud of it. And yeah, I know the title is stolen from a Kelly Clarkson song. But I heard it on the radio the day after I finished this, and I was like, "that's the title. Right there'. Anyway. What did YOU think? Too much plagirism? Not enough? Was it good, was it bad, did you love it, did you hate it, did you even like it? REVIEW, GUYS! Tell me what you thought!**

***Edit* Oh, by the way! There's a link to an image of what I imagined Cas's golden ciclet crown to look like on my profile. Go check it out!**


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